Then, Ji Fengyao picked up the bamboo tube and chopsticks from the tray, gracefully walked to the cabinet where the coarse cloth was placed, stood there, turned her head and smiled brightly at everyone present, her bright eyes and white teeth making her look quite charming and cute.

"I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting." After saying that, she gracefully curtsied to the several large Buddha statues in the hall and said innocently, "Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, I will now begin my performance."

"Ninth Princess Consort, what kind of performance is this?" The Empress saw that the Emperor and the Empress Dowager both looked curious but hesitant to speak, so she took the initiative to ask.

Ji Fengyao tilted her head to her left shoulder and said in a clear voice, "Hopscotch! I used to play it all the time when I was little, it was so much fun!"

What the heck is hopscotch?

The concubines, ministers, and ministers' wives in the banquet hall looked at each other in bewilderment.

"This game is very simple. You can play it at home when you have nothing to do. Look, it's like this. First, lift one leg and jump in, then kick the coarse cloth in the square into the designated square. If the cloth doesn't go out of bounds, you can continue. If it goes out of bounds, you lose, and it's the next person's turn." Ji Fengyao explained the rules of the game innocently while lifting her skirt and nimbly jumping around in the eighteen squares, kicking the coarse cloth with one leg.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft!"

Suddenly, a chorus of spraying wine erupted in the banquet hall.

Shang Xiye raised the back of her hand and pressed it against the corner of her lips, barely managing to suppress the wildly upturned corners of her lips.

Judging by the difficulty of this game, it's probably something that young children would like to play. But this little bandit girl has brazenly brought it to the dragon boat and before the imperial banquet. Indeed... pfft hahahaha!

She even let the concubines, ministers, and noblewomen play at home by themselves. Just imagine the scene—it's simply too wonderful.

Not to mention the ministers, noblewomen, and concubines, even the emperor, empress dowager, and empress had somewhat subtle expressions at this moment.

Were those bandits shameful? They were indeed very shameful.

But when you think about it carefully, it's hard to explain in a few words.

They suspected that the bandit was publicly humiliating the ministers and the royal family, but they had no evidence!

Just as the atmosphere was getting awkwardly tense, the little bandit girl playing hopscotch in the banquet hall suddenly exclaimed "Ouch!" Everyone looked up and saw that she had accidentally kicked the coarse cloth far out of the 18-square grid.

The little bandit looked annoyed and unsatisfied. Her bright little face was flushed, and her clear eyes were innocent and pure. She had a charmingly simple and clueless look: "I kicked her out. I lost. I have to be punished."

Before the three above could respond, the little bandit girl said in a clear voice, "Then punish me by making me sing a story. It just so happens that I saw Your Highness writing a very interesting story in Your Highness's study the other day."

The storybooks in the Ninth Prince's study?

Could it be some kind of secret intelligence?

Shang Xiche and the other officials present immediately perked up their ears. Seeing Shang Xiye's clearly astonished expression, they became even more excited. This was a secret that even a hundred spies might not be able to steal!

Shang Xiye: She has never even entered my study.

But Shang Xiye still cooperated and called out, "Your Highness, that's enough."

"Your Highness, don't be stingy. It's just a storybook. Aren't storybooks written to entertain people? I'll only sing the one you just wrote the other day," Ji Fengyao said with a carefree smile, and began to tap the bamboo tube with her chopsticks at a leisurely pace.